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In shaping the Universe, gravity builds a vast cobweb-like structure of filaments tying galaxies and clusters of galaxies together along invisible bridges hundreds of millions of light-years long. This is known as the cosmic web. Image credit: Springel et al. / Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics.

New Link Found between Dark Matter and Universe’s Clumpiness

Jun 14, 2023 by News Staff

New research from the University of Toronto suggests that the so-called clumpiness problem, which centers on the unexpectedly even distribution of matter...

An artist’s rendition of a multiplanetary circumbinary system. Image credit: NASA’s Ames Research Center / JPL-Caltech / T. Pyle.

Astronomers Discover New Multiplanetary Circumbinary System

Jun 13, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Circumbinary planetary systems contain planets that orbit around two stars in the center instead of just one, like in our Solar System. An artist’s rendition...

NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope (top left) and the IceCube Neutrino Observatory (sensor strings, bottom). Image credit: NASA / Fermi / Aurore Simonnet, Sonoma State University.

Could Quantum Properties of Spacetime Slow Down Neutrinos?

Jun 13, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Using data from NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope and the IceCube Neutrino Observatory, astrophysicists have found preliminary evidence for gamma-ray...

Webb captured extraordinarily detailed images and spectra of galaxies that existed when the Universe was only 900 million years old. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Simon Lilly, ETH Zurich / Daichi Kashino, Nagoya University / Jorryt Matthee, ETH Zurich / Christina Eilers, MIT / Rongmon Bordoloi, NCSU / Ruari Mackenzie, ETH Zurich / Alyssa Pagan, STScI / Ruari Mackenzie, ETH Zurich.

Star-Forming Galaxies Reionized Early Universe, Astronomers Say

Jun 12, 2023 by News Staff

Only a few hundred million years after the Big Bang, the infant Universe was brimming with opaque hydrogen gas that trapped light at some wavelengths from...

Parker Solar Probe has flown through the solar corona and sampled particles and magnetic fields there. Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

Parker Solar Probe Identifies Mechanism Driving Fast Solar Wind

Jun 12, 2023 by News Staff

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has flown close enough to the Sun to detect the fine structure of the solar wind close to where it is generated at the solar...

This Hubble image shows NGC 7292, an irregular galaxy some 44 million light-years away in the constellation of Pegasus. The color image was made from separate exposures taken in the visible and near-infrared regions of the spectrum Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS). Two filters were used to sample various wavelengths. The color results from assigning different hues to each monochromatic image associated with an individual filter. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / C. Kilpatrick.

Hubble Space Telescope Inspects NGC 7292

Jun 12, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has produced this beautiful image of the remarkable low surface brightness galaxy NGC 7292. This Hubble image shows...

SN 2023ixf (lower left) exploded in one of the spiral arms of Messier 101. Image credit: International Gemini Observatory / NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / J. Miller, Gemini Observatory & NSF’s NOIRLab / M. Rodriguez, Gemini Observatory & NSF’s NOIRLab / M. Zamani, NSF’s NOIRLab / T.A. Rector, University of Alaska Anchorage & NSF’s NOIRLab / D. de Martin, NSF’s NOIRLab.

Gemini North Telescope Observes Supernova Explosion in Messier 101

Jun 9, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

A supernova dubbed SN 2023ixf was discovered on May 19, 2023 by the Japanese astronomer Koichi Itagaki. SN 2023ixf (lower left) exploded in one of the...

The very massive first-generation stars with a mass range from 140 to 260 solar masses are predicted to enrich the early interstellar medium through pair-instability supernovae; decades of observational efforts, however, have not been able to uniquely identify the imprints of such very massive stars on the most metal-poor stars in the Milky Way. Image credit: NAOC.

Galactic Halo Star’s Chemical Signature Indicates Existence of Very Massive Stars in Early Universe

Jun 7, 2023 by News Staff

Early Universe’s stars had up to several hundred solar masses. The earliest stars of 140-260 solar masses became pair-instability supernovae (PISNe)....

The hyperluminous star-forming galaxy GN-z11 hosts an accreting black hole. Image credit: NASA / ESA / P. Oesch, Yale University / G. Brammer, STScI / P. van Dokkum, Yale University / G. Illingworth, University of California, Santa Cruz / Sci.News.

Webb Detects Small and Vigorous Black Hole in Early Universe

Jun 6, 2023 by Sergio Prostak

The newly-discovered black hole resides in the hyperluminous galaxy GN-z11 at a redshift of 11 and could have originated from a stellar mass seed at redshifts...

In this image of NGC 5068, from Webb’s MIRI instrument, the dusty structure of the spiral galaxy and glowing bubbles of gas containing newly-formed star clusters are particularly prominent. Three asteroid trails intrude into this image, represented as tiny blue-green-red dots. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Webb / J. Lee / PHANGS-JWST Team.

Webb Observes Hidden Depths of NGC 5068

Jun 6, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have captured stunning images of the face-on barred spiral galaxy NGC 5068. In this image...

In this false-color Webb image, the foreground galaxy is shown in blue, while the SPT0418-47 galaxy is red; the organic molecules are highlighted in orange. Image credit: J. Spilker / S. Doyle / NASA / ESA / CSA.

Webb Finds Complex Organic Molecules in Early Universe

Jun 5, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have detected polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in SPT-S J041839-4751.9 (SPT0418-47 for short),...

Color-coded position angles for all short and long radio filaments identified in the center of the Milky Way. Image credit: Yusef-Zadeh et al., doi: 10.3847/2041-8213/acd54b.

MeerKAT Finds Hundreds of Horizontal Filaments in Milky Way’s Center

Jun 5, 2023 by News Staff

These mysterious structures likely originated a few million years ago when an outflow from Sagittarius A* — a supermassive black hole in the center...

An artist’s rendition of a giant star in orbit around a low-mass black hole. Image credit: Sci-News.com.

All Large Objects in Universe Will Eventually Evaporate, Astrophysicists Say

Jun 5, 2023 by News Staff

According to quantum mechanics, a vacuum state is populated by virtual particle pairs undergoing spontaneous creation and annihilation processes. These...

In this Hubble image, the disk of the jellyfish galaxy JO206 is trailed by long tendrils of bright star formation that stretch towards the bottom right of the image, just as jellyfish trail tentacles behind them. The color image was made from separate exposures taken in the visible, ultraviolet and near-infrared regions of the spectrum with Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3). The image is based on data obtained through six filters. The color results from assigning different hues to each monochromatic image associated with an individual filter. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / M. Gullieuszik / GASP Team.

Hubble Space Telescope Spots Jellyfish Galaxy in Aquarius

Jun 5, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

The Hubble astronomers have released an absolutely beautiful photo taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope of the jellyfish galaxy JO206. In this...

A projected image of the galaxy JD1 (inset), which is located behind the galaxy cluster Abell 2744. Image credit: Guido Roberts-Borsani, UCLA / NASA / ESA / CSA / Swinburne University of Technology / University of Pittsburgh / STScI.

Ultra-Faint Dwarf Galaxy Spotted Just 480 Million Years after Big Bang

Jun 3, 2023 by News Staff

Residing behind a galaxy supercluster called Abell 2744, the JD1 galaxy is gravitationally lensed and displays three images. A projected image of the galaxy...

Incha et al. found three new exoplanets in the K2 campaign 19 dataset. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / K. Walbolt.

K2 Mission Discovers Three New Massive Exoplanets

Jun 3, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

NASA’s Kepler space telescope was responsible for the discovery of over 2,700 confirmed extrasolar planets, more than half of the total number of exoplanets...

Radio SETI has focused on the discovery of narrowband signals and artificially dispersed broadband pulses from extraterrestrial worlds; in contrast to these technosignature morphologies, periodic spectral signals offer an energetically efficient means of transmission across vast interstellar distances; a rotating beacon at the Milky Way’s center is, in particular, advantageously placed for galaxy-wide communications. Image credit: Breakthrough Listen / Danielle Futselaar.

BLIPSS to Search for Periodic Spectral Signals from Alien Worlds in Milky Way’s Center

Jun 2, 2023 by News Staff

The Breakthrough Listen Investigation for Periodic Spectral Signals (BLIPSS) is a novel software architecture utilizing a fast folding algorithm to enable...

Images from Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) show a water vapor plume jetting from the south pole of Saturn’s moon Enceladus. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / STScI / G. Villanueva, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center / A. Pagan, STScI.

Webb Observes Enceladus’ Water Vapor Plume

Jun 2, 2023 by News Staff

As Enceladus orbits rapidly around Saturn with a period of only 1.37 Earth days, the ejected water vapor is spread along and around its orbit, forming...

An artist’s impression of a jet emanating from NGC 4993. Image credit: J.A. Biretta et al / NASA / ESA / Hubble Heritage Team / STScI / AURA / Sci-News.com.

Astronomers Detect Variability in Extragalactic X-ray Jets

May 30, 2023 by News Staff

Astronomers discovered only relatively recently that black hole jets emit X-rays, and how the jets accelerate particles to this high-energy state is a...